Ralph Fiennes, who co-stars with Swinton in the forthcoming Grand Budapest Hotel, co-chaired the event. Wes Anderson, who directs the movie and also directed Swinton in Moonrise Kingdom, said in a statement read by Fiennes that Swinton is "almost the color of a cloud ... Yet everything pales beside her."

Another of Swinton's directors attended the MoMA event to celebrate her birthday. Bong Joon-ho directed Swinton in the upcoming Snowpiercer. He sang Swinton's praises and told the crowd how, in atypical Hollywood style, she actually asked to look uglier for her role in the film, demanding false teeth, a "piggy" nose, and sagging breasts.

New Zealand singer-songwriter Lorde performed at the event:

performed at the moma's film benefit honouring tilda swinton. such an honour, that woman is phenomenal. a true heroine

At one point during the evening, a montage of Swinton's work was shown, featuring clips from Orlando, Burn After Reading, and Michael Clayton. Swinton received an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her work in Michael Clayton.